


Prince of Wolves

by 101fender



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alpha-Geno, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe– Canon Divergence, Bonds, Developing Relationships, Evgeni Malkin - Freeform, First Time, Fluff and Humor, Getting Together, High School, Insecurity, Kris Letang - Freeform, M/M, Mario Lemieux - Freeform, Mutual Pining, Nathan MacKinnon - Freeform, Non-Famous, Psychic Abilities, Psychic Bond, Sidney Crosby - Freeform, Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin - Freeform, Slow Burn, Soulmates, Wolf Pack, marc-andre fleury - Freeform, not hockey players
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-08 04:29:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14097240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/101fender/pseuds/101fender
Summary: Sidney Crosby was just an ordinary 17-year-old guy getting ready to start his senior year in high school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When a mysterious foreign exchange student from Russia moves in across the street, Sidney and his two best friends, Flower and Tanger, don't realize the last two weeks of their summer are going to get a lot more interesting.From the moment Sidney sets eyes on Geno he feels an instant connection, a pull like a moth to a flame. Little does he know that the flame he is drawn to is actually a Canis lupus, werewolf, and he just happens to be his mate; the other half of his soul.The problem is Geno is not the only wolf in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Just as Geno and Sidney are getting to know each other, another wolf steps out to try and claim Sidney as his mate. Geno will now have to fight for the right to complete the mating bond, something that is his right by birth but is being denied him by a crazed Alpha. Will the love Geno has for Sidney be enough to give him the strength to defeat his enemy, will Sidney accept that he is Geno's mate and complete the bond between them?





	1. Chapter One

Chapter 1  
Sidney Crosby sat in the window seat in his bedroom looking across the street at his neighbor's house; he wasn’t really being nosy he thought to himself, just curious. “Yeah,” he snorted, “only if you call curious sitting in your window seat eyes glued to your neighbor’s house like a hound on the hunt at ten o’clock at night. I can call a spade, a spade tomorrow morning,” he told his conscience.  
The Lemieux ’s were having a foreign exchange student stay with them this year. They didn’t have any children of their own, though Sidney didn’t know if that was by choice or because they weren’t able to have children. He had promised Flower and Tanger he would get the nitty-gritty of the situation and call them.  
So here he sat in his window, scoping out the neighbor’s house with his lights turned off and blinds cracked just enough to see and to top off his “James Bond” experience, he even had binoculars! Now if he only had the nifty background music to go with his shenanigans. He had been sitting there for an hour already and was just about to give up when a black stretch limo pulled to the curb. Now isn’t this strange, he thought, a foreign exchange student arriving in a limo? He put the binoculars to his face and adjusted them to get a better look, settling them over the passenger door to see just who would emerge. He knew this was a little much but honestly, in a town of 700 there just isn’t a whole lot of excitement and Sidney would take it where he could get it.  
The driver got out of the limo to go around and open the back passenger door, but before he could get there the door was already opening, and the boy who stepped out of that limo had to be the most beautiful guy Sidney had ever seen, and that was only his profile. Wow, just wow, is all Sidney could think. Sidney couldn’t even imagine what his entire face must look like. He was tall, probably six foot one or so, his hair was dark black and was shortly cropped. He had broad shoulders and from what he could see of his profile, high cheekbones, a straight nose and what looked to be bright pink lips. He quickly realized his mouth had dropped open and he was all but drooling over the handsome human being who had emerged from the vehicle. He watched as he and his driver conversed, it all seemed very formal until the driver suddenly hugged the boy with obvious deep affection. He must be more than just his driver Sidney thought.  
Suddenly, the guy turned as if he had heard what he was thinking and looked straight at his window, straight at him. Sidney froze, unable to look away from the mesmerizing deep brown eyes that held him in place. All his thoughts seemed to fade into the distance and he heard— or thought— he wasn’t quite sure which, the words, “At last, my Sidney.” Sidney shook his head, trying to clear the haze that had filled it. After he came to his senses from the intense stare he recapped in his mind what his face had looked like.  
He was right about the cheekbones; nose and lips, what he wasn’t prepared for was that his brown eyes seemed to come alive in the moonlight. Overall he had a very masculine, very beautiful face. The shirt he was wearing was black and thanks to his handy dandy binoculars he was able to see that it fit closely to his form and showed off a muscular chest and flat stomach. He had a black leather biker jacket on, but past that he couldn’t see because the car was in the way, but he imagined his legs were every bit as nice as the rest of him.  
When he looked back at the street the mysterious guy was walking into the Lemieux’s house. As he saw the door close he heard the voice again say “Soon.”  
Sidney sat there for a few minutes more trying to get his brain to work again, everything seemed so hazy. After blinking what felt like a thousand times he pulled himself together, picked up the phone and dialed Tanger’s number.  
Three rings later Tanger answered, “What’s the word?” he asked.  
Sidney took a slow breath and said: “I think you better come over.”  
“I’m their bro, see ya in 5,” Tanger responded and then hung up.  
Sidney grinned to himself as he thought about how great it was to have a friend like Kris Letang who you could always depend on to be there when you needed him.  
Sidney picked up the phone again and called Flower. He answered after one ring. He had obviously been diligently manning the phone, waiting for Sidney to call with details on the latest small-town drama. “Tanger is on his way over,” Sidney said. “I need you to come too, we need to talk.”  
“Okay,” Flower said simply and hung up.  
Fifteen minutes later the three friends were gathered on Sidney's bedroom floor, hot chocolate in hand, because naturally, how can you have a major powwow without hot chocolate?  
“So, fill it and spill it,” Tanger said.  
“Okay,” Sidney said taking a deep breath, “so I’m sitting in my window seat, shades cracked lights off, binoculars in hand,”  
“Binoculars, really, you honestly were using binoculars?” Flower interrupted.  
“Well you said you wanted details, so I was getting you details,” Sidney defended. Never wanting to half-ass anything.  
“Oooh, did you have the “Mission Impossible” soundtrack playing in the background cuz that would have been spy-tactic,” Tanger said enthusiastically.  
“Actually,” Sidney said distracted, “I was thinking more James Bond-ish, you know with the whole stakeout thing,”  
“No, huh-uh, that would be more like Dog the Bounty Hunter type stuff. But you couldn’t be Beth ‘cause you’re not stacked enough on top, so you would have to be baby Lisa the daughter….” Tanger rattled on.  
“You are so, so not comparing me to Dog the Bounty Hunter’s daughter right now and why are we talking about this anyway because it is sooooo not the point!” Sidney growled in frustration.  
“Spy analogies aside, I was sitting there about an hour when finally a black stretch limo pulls up to the curb in front of the Lemieux’s house.”  
“A limo? What foreign exchange student shows up in a limo?” Tanger asked.  
“I know right, that’s what I was thinking,” Sidney stated. “I assure you the limo is of no consequence once the person inside stepped out. Boys, I saw the most gorgeous guy to ever grace my line of site.”  
“When you say gorgeous,” Tanger started, “are we talking Brad Pitt boyish good looks, or Johnny Depp makes you want to slap somebody?”  
“No, we’re talking Brad and Johnny need to bow down and recognize,” Sidney answered.  
“Aside from him being dropped off in a limo, and besides the fact that he is a walking Calvin Cline ad, it begins to get strange at this point in our story boys and girls,” Sidney says in a spooky narrative voice.  
“Like it wasn’t strange already?” Flower asked.  
“Well, okay strang-er. Just as he is about to walk up the path, he suddenly turns and looks straight at me, like he could sense I was watching him—Like, right in my eyes—I literally couldn’t move; it was like I was mesmerized by him or something. Man, when did I start using the word “like” so freaking much?” Sidney said in exasperation. “Up until now it was strange, but now we are entering the world of what the hell. As he is staring at me I hear a voice in my head and it said “At last, my Sidney,” then as he turned to go in the house and I hear the voice again say, “Soon.”  
Sidney stares expectantly at his two best friends waiting for them to tell him that he’s finally jumped off the deep end, but they just sit there staring at him. “Well?” Sidney asked. Finally, Tanger stirs taking a deep breath in, he looks down at his empty hot chocolate mug, “We’re gonna need more hot chocolate.”  
“Agreed,” Flower and Sidney say at the same time.  
Tanger returned with three fresh mugs of hot chocolate and peanut butter cups. Folding himself Indian style on the floor, he cocked his head to the side eyebrows scrunched together, “So let me see if I’m catching what you’re throwing. Hottie exchange student drives up in a limo, steps out, rocks your world, looks into your eyes and speaks to you in your head? Am I getting the general gist of it here?”  
Sidney nodded his head sheepishly looking at the floor, “I mean, I guess it was his voice in my head. It could be a long-lost dead relative who’s been searching for me since they died and happen to find me the moment that hottie looked into my eyes.”  
Tanger and Flower both gave Sidney the, get a larger spoon if you're going to shovel it in that big, look.  
“What?” Sidney asked. “I’m just saying,” he said throwing his hands up in the air in frustration.  
Flopping back onto the floor Sidney groaned loudly and covered his eyes with the back of his hand, “Am I going crazy?” he asked.  
“No sweetie, you been gone a long time now, we just didn’t want you to know that we knew.” Flower teased.  
“Seriously, I know it sounds crazy, but I promise you guys I heard a voice, a beautiful, deep, masculine voice, in my head, and it knew my name! That is crazy, jacked up, put-him-in-a-straight jacket, totally insane!” Sidney looked at them both with fear in his eyes; he truly did wonder if he had finally cracked.  
There was, after all, people in his family of questionable sanity, his mother being one of them. Sidney loved his mom and they had a good relationship, but she wasn’t always in touch with reality. Sidney’s father wasn’t in the picture and never had been, he had bailed as soon as he found out his mom was pregnant. Thankfully he had two best friends who kept his feet firmly on the ground, which is why he was so fervently seeking their thoughts on this matter.  
Flower finally spoke up, “I don’t think you are crazy, Sid, really you’re not. There has to be some sort of explanation. We’ll figure it out, we always do.”  
“Yea,” Tanger added, “it’s 2 weeks until school starts. From now until then we are on scout detail.” Flower nodded him in agreement.  
They were quiet for a few minutes, each pondering ways to run into the new exchange student without seeming too obvious. Tanger was lying on the floor looking up at the ceiling fan, his eyes following the blades as his mind turned its own circles, “We need to find a way to introduce ourselves to him so that we can each get a good look and see if Flower or I hear a voice in our head.”  
“My mom was planning on taking over a good’ole American meal for him since he isn’t from here. We could ask if we could go over with him, or would that be too lame?” Sidney asked.  
“No, I think that’s perfect,” Tanger stated.  
Finally, by midnight they had thought up a somewhat weak game plan, the whole of it revolving around going with Sidney’s mom to the Lemieux to give their new exchange student some hamburgers, fries, and apple pie. Seriously, how lame could you get, Sidney thought as he lay on his bedroom floor. Tanger and Flower had quickly fallen asleep on the other side of his room each with their own blanket wrapped around them.  
Sidney sat up and looked around his room, and thought, this was a place I feel safe and comfortable. The twin size bed with the new black and yellow bedspread his mom had bought him for his birthday, the stained-glass lamp with absolutely no theme whatsoever that sat on his small wooden desk. He, Flower and Tanger had carved various things on its surface. He looked at his dresser mirror which had pictures lining both sides, mostly of Tanger, Flower and him in various places and poses; just a few hours ago I was just another 17-year-old getting ready to start my senior year, so normal he thought. His life had changed in a way he wasn’t sure of yet. Sidney lay back down on his back watching his ceiling fan go around in a circle, the motor lulling him to sleep. His last thought as he drifted off was of a full moon, whatever that meant.


	2. Chapter 2

As his limo pulled up to the house where Zhenya would be staying he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. Not necessarily in a bad way, he just felt unsettled, restless, and tense.

Well, it could be because he was more than a thousand miles away from home, he knew absolutely no one, it was his senior year in high school, and he was going to be spending it in a country he had never been to before. “Yes I imagine that might make a person tense,” Zhenya said to himself. He looked at the house and noticed it was quite large; two stories with a wrap-around porch. It actually looked like a house you might see out in the country, not in a suburb. The yard was nicely manicured with short green grass. There was a tall, full tree to the right of the walkway with a bench underneath. On the porch, there were two rocking chairs and a porch swing, a little table in between the rocking chairs had a potted plant with one of those water globes sticking out of it. Overall it was a charming home, a home in which a person would feel comfortable; a normal home.

Zhenya hoped this was the case because normal was not usually in his vocabulary. He was, after all, from a family of werewolves, specifically a Grey wolf, not only that, but he just happens to be the son of the current Alpha. What could possibly be normal about your family being able to change into wolves, or being a prince of wolves as well? Nothing in that scenario could ever be normal.

“You made this choice,” Zhenya told himself, “now you have to live with it so get out of the car.”

Zhenya wasn’t really sure why he even decided to apply to the foreign exchange program; he just knew he felt a pull, like a moth to a flame, to come to the United States and not to just any city but to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Why he thought it was a good idea to leave his home in Russia, which has largest numbers of Greys in the world, he didn’t know. There are other places that Grey wolves hold as territories like Ireland, the Balkans and Poland, even Italy and Spain have some Grey wolves. One would think that a Grey would go to another territory where Grey’s were, but the problem is wolves are extremely territorial and unless a wolf wanted a fight, especially a male wolf, you didn’t wander into another’s territory. Fortunately, there weren’t any Grey in the small town of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania so Zhenya was free to come and claim his own territory, which was completely in his nature to do.”

Ok, no more stalling Zhenya thought. He looked up at Gonch his driver and friend, and said, “I guess this is it, spasibo my friend for coming all this way to drop me off, I appreciate it.”

“Think nothing of it my prince; it is always an honor to serve you.”

“Oh, come now don’t go getting all formal on me. Here in Pittsburgh, I’m just a high school student, not a prince,” Zhenya said.

Zhenya knew this was hard for his friend, though Gonch’s title was actually “Guard to the Prince” and had been since Zhenya was a child. Gonch had actually wanted to stay in the U.S. with Zhenya, but he insisted Gonch go home and let him be on his own for a while. There were no other Greys in this area so it wasn’t likely that he was going to get in a territory battle.

Gonch got out of the car to open Zhenya’s door but Zhenya was already unfolding his tall form before Gonch could even get around the front of the car. Zhenya stood six-foot-one which was a good five inches taller than Gonch, so once out of the car he had to look just a little lower to meet his long-time friend in the eye. Gonch bowed only slightly, a show of respect and love for the prince and then broke formality and hugged him. Wolves take great comfort in touch; it is as much in their nature as breathing and even in human form they tend to touch more than humans. Zhenya patted Gonch on the back and stepped away. 

Out of nowhere, Zhenya caught a passing thought in his mind that caused his wolf to perk up, “He must be more than just his driver. Now isn’t this strange, a foreign exchange student arriving in a limo?”

Zhenya turned his head to look toward the thought’s origination and locked eyes with a boy in a window of the two-story house across the street.

Since the belief by humans that men “change” into werewolves is false, Zhenya is able to do what the Grey wolves call phasing. The wolf and the man are one, there is no changing from one to the other, a change would mean that once a man is in wolf form he is no longer a man but fully wolf and when in human form he is fully human. This is not the case, a Grey wolf is always aware of his wolf as is the wolf always aware of the man, they exist together usually harmoniously. When Zhenya is in his wolf form he can still think and reason as if he was in his human form. When he is in his human form he can call on his wolf to phase only the parts he needs to use instead of phasing his entire being. 

He phased just enough to let his wolf eyes do the looking. Although the Grey wolf’s eyesight isn’t as good as its hearing, his night vision was the best of all the breeds of wolves. He found himself looking into bright hazel eyes.

It registered in Zhenya’s brain at that moment that he had “heard” his thoughts. There was only one person in the world that a Grey could hear thoughts from, their mate. His wolf growled possessively, and it took several deep breaths to keep from phasing. He discovered for the first time was what it was like to not be in harmony with his wolf. The wolf wanted out, he wanted to go to his mate, his other half. Zhenya knew it was a better idea to not phase into his wolf and go pining at his window like a lovesick pup. He couldn’t get his scent so his window must have been closed. A wolf’s mate also carries a certain scent that only he would recognize.

Reflexively he sent him a thought as he picked his name out of his mind, “At last, my Sidney.” It was so natural to claim what was his, and he was without a doubt his, whether he knew it yet or not.

Judging from the look on his face he had heard him and for a minute he thought he might pass out from shock. Confirming even more that he was his mate, he could feel his distress and confusion, but he knew he would be fine, he was strong. He had to be because he was the mate of an Alpha and he was to be his Luna. 

Zhenya turned, ignoring his wolf instincts to go to him, and walked up to the house, breaking the gaze that had locked them together. As he knocked on the door he couldn’t help himself and sent him another thought, one to assure him this encounter wasn’t their last, “Soon,” he thought, and once again felt his confusion. 

As he walked through the door Nathalie Lemieux reached out to hug Zhenya and at the same time said, “Welcome to our home Evgeni.” 

Zhenya was a little surprised since he knew Americans to be stand-offish when it came to touching. Once again he found comfort in that touch and sank into that feeling.

Mario Lemieux held out his hand and Zhenya responded by shaking it, “We are very glad to have you here with us,” Mario said.

“Thank you for allowing me to stay in your home. I appreciate your generosity greatly,” Zhenya said sincerely.

“You must be tired from your long trip so why don’t we show you your room and let you get settled for the night. If you are hungry, I can show you the kitchen and you are welcome to help yourself to anything you find. We can visit more tomorrow and get better acquainted once you have rested,” Nathalie stated.

Zhenya followed them both upstairs where they turned right at the top of the stairway, they went down a long hall passing several doors. “We will give you the full tour tomorrow,” Mario told Zhenya. 

That was fine with Zhenya, he was very tired but his brain was going ninety to nothing, thinking about what he had just discovered. The wolf inside was restless knowing his mate, who he could possibly have had to wait an eternity for, was just across the street.

Finally, at the end of the hall, the last door on the left Nathalie stepped aside and said “Here is your room, we took the liberty of decorating it a bit, but you are welcome to change it any way you would like. So, we will leave you to it, sleep tight.”

“Spasibo,” he stated formally in his native tongue. The Lemieux’s looked at him quizzically. “Oh, that means ‘thank you’ in Russian. Sometimes I forget and start speaking my native language, forgive me.”

“Oh, no that’s great Evgeni,” Nathalie said. “I would love to learn your language and culture, please feel free to use it anytime you want.” “Well, again spasibo and dobroy nochi, which means good night,” Zhenya told them.

With that, the Lemieux turned and walked away leaving Zhenya to explore his new territory.  
He walked into his room and immediately felt at home. They had, inadvertently, decorated his room in winter tones with wolves as the dominant theme, how fitting, Zhenya thought. The walls were painted a white that glistened like snow and one wall had a mural on it of a winter forest; in the distance, there was a wolf on a snowy hill, his head tilted to the sky posed in a lonely howl. The bed was a full size with a thick blue comforter and lots of pillows. To the left of the bedroom door was another door, Zhenya opened it and walked into a huge closet with built in drawers all along one wall; the back wall had a clothing bar across the top. Along the right side of the closet were various sizes of shelves from floor to ceiling. All in all, it was quite a sight; there was even a built-in shoe rack along the bottom of the closet all the way around the perimeter. Zhenya stepped out of the closet and turned right to go into the other door and walked into a spacious bathroom with a glassed-in shower and separate bathtub. There was a long marble countertop with a deep bowl-style sink. The mirror that hung above the sink was antique-looking with a large curved pewter frame. The floor was stone tiles, and the light fixtures on the wall were old world style lanterns. The hanging light fixture was electric candles in a metal circular frame. It was becoming more and more obvious that the Lemieux were quite wealthy.

After checking out all of his new territories, even in his human form, Zhenya couldn’t help seeing things as his territory or not his territory, he decided to take a shower and wash off the smell of crowded airports and unfamiliar people. He took his time enjoying the hot water and finally decided he was ready to go to bed.

His final thought of the night as he began to fall asleep was of hazel eyes; he couldn’t see the color of his hair because he had never gotten past his eyes; the shock of whom and what he was had distracted him enough that he didn’t look him over. Still, those hazel eyes led him to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you so much to everyone who left comments and kudos!  
> Sorry if the translations are off I used google translate for that! Thanks again for reading and please keep helping me by leaving comments!! :)


	3. Chapter 3

The morning sunlight shone into Sidney’s room as he yawned noisily and stretched his limbs thoroughly. He glanced over to where Flower and Tanger had fallen asleep and saw they were snoozing soundly. I’ll let them sleep while I get a shower he thought. He still had things he needed to process from his encounter with the foreign hottie from across the street.

“Thanks, Tanger,” he muttered under his breath. Now he couldn’t think of him as the foreign exchange student because Tanger had so eloquently named him the “hottie” across the street.  
Sidney would have to watch himself and make sure not to introduce himself by saying “Hi hottie, I’m Sidney; it’s nice to meet you.” Yeah, that wouldn’t be embarrassing.

He gathered up some clean clothes and realized as he stared in his closet, he was taking quite a long time to pick an outfit to wear to meet the hottie, ugh, the exchange student, Sid, he thought, say it to yourself, ex-ch-an-ge student. He finally ended up with putting on a pair of jeans that made his ass look fantastic and paired it with a light blue tee shirt. He headed to the room to take a hot shower and hoped it would help settle his nerves. He didn’t really understand why he was so nervous about meeting the exchange student, way to go, Sid, you didn’t even meet the hottie and he was already very nervous. Then again it could be, he thought, because he might have spoken to him in his mind. “I’m mean, what the hell,” he muttered. 

He took his time in the shower, finally getting out when the water started to get cold. He quickly ran a towel through his hair, then took some gel to his hair to try and make his hair resemble something that looks put together. He just couldn’t shake the feeling that something major happened last night when he locked eyes with the handsome stranger. 

Once he was done with his hair and with getting dressed, he headed back to his room to see if Flower and Tanger had decided to join the living. Sure enough, they were both sitting on the floor, each with bed-head looking a little dazed. “You’re up bright and early…and dressed,” said Tanger sounding surprised.

“Well, I woke up with just a few things on my mind and knew it would be impossible to go back to sleep. Also, I need to go talk to my mom about us going over with her to greet the hot, I mean exchange student. Thanks to you Tanger I will probably introduce myself to him and say hi hottie.”

“Well if you do I will be sure to do you the honor of laughing my ass off,” Tanger said graciously.

“Oh, thanks so much,” Sidney retorted. Moving on, and changing the subject, he said, “Okay, why don’t you guys take turns getting a shower and I will go talk to my mom about when she plans to head over to the Lemieux’s,”

“Sounds good,” Flower answered.

“Go, team,” Tanger said with fake enthusiasm.

Tanger could often be just as sarcastic as Sidney, which at times caused them to be the best of friends and the worst.

Sidney headed downstairs to find his mom already in the kitchen cooking up a storm. His mom was not your average woman. She had a sketchy background growing up in a foster home, not knowing who her real parents were. She often had these “feelings” about things that were going to happen, and the scary thing was she was usually right. Sidney and his mom never really talked about it, though Sidney was beginning to show signs of a similar nature. Only Sidney didn’t know things, he could feel things; like how others were feeling. It was very subtle at times, he might be in a room with his mom and without her ever saying anything, Sidney knew without a doubt his mother was sad or worried or confused. He didn’t know how he knew it, he just did. It wasn’t reliable though because he could go days without feeling another’s emotions. Sidney didn’t want to know things, or feel things; he just wanted to be normal.

As Sidney looked around the kitchen he saw that there were burgers frying on the stove and his mom was steadily mixing a bowl of mashed potatoes, adding milk and butter as she saw fit.

“Hey mom, how goes the cooking?” Sidney asked.

“I’m almost done. I just need to put some of the hamburger buns in the oven so that can be a little warm. Would you mind getting them and putting them in a pan? I know they aren’t homemade, but they’re really good.”

“Yeah, I can do that. So mom, Flower, Tanger, and I were wondering if you needed help carrying all this over to the Lemieux’s,” Sidney said, trying to sound casual and not really knowing if he had succeeded. His mom looked at him questioningly and Sidney figured he hadn’t even come anywhere close to casual.

“Are you really wanting to help or is this just a perfect opportunity to meet the new exchange student? It is a guy, after all, right?” His mom asked.

“Yes he is a guy, and maybe we would like to see who he is, but we do also really want to help you. I don’t think you can carry all this over on your own,” Sidney answered.

“Well, I was going to ask you to help me anyway, and thought you guys would be interested in meeting the new young man, especially since you and Nathan have split up.”

“Do not go there, Mom! This has nothing to do with him. It’s only natural to want to meet someone new and especially since he’s not from our country,” Sidney stated firmly.

“Okay, okay, you don’t have to be defensive. I will be ready just as soon as those buns are done warming. I’m going to call the Lemieux now to make sure they are okay with us coming over in about ten minutes.”

Sidney got a pan and put the buns on it in straight rows; his mom had already pre-heated the oven so he just put them in and set the timer for 7 minutes which is what the package directions said. As his mom was stepping out of the room to call the Lemieux, he caught the briefest hint of worry coming from his mom in subtle waves. It had been a while since he had picked anything up from his mom so it kind of made him take a step back. I wonder what she was worried about.

He headed back upstairs to see if the guys were done getting ready and let them know the plan was in motion. Man, he felt ridiculous as he thought about how it sounded to have a “plan” to meet a guy, and not to meet him like ‘hey what’s up’, but meet him like ‘hey are you a weirdo or something’, what was his world coming to? Oh well, could be worse, he could be hearing voices, oh wait he was, well crap.

Flower looked like he just gotten out of the shower and was towel drying his hair, Sid could hear that the shower was still on, so he figured that meant that Tanger was still in the shower. He could even hear him singing Martina McBride’s “Independence Day”, and he was belting it out proudly, out of tune. Sidney banged on the door and hollered, “Yeah, yeah, you’re strong, free and independent, we get it. Hurry up! We’re rolling out 10 minutes ago.” Tanger just sang louder. Sidney just rolled his eyes and went back to his room.”

“If he’s planning on blow drying that hot mess on his head then we’re leaving him here,” Sidney told Flower looking over to see him shoving his feet into his shoes.

“Well, I’m ready when you are Creature, let's go check hottie out,” Flower said with a wink.

“How lucky I am to have you my dear Flower,” Sid said smiling.

Tanger stepped into Sidney’s room fully clothed, stating, “What is taking you two so long, I’ve been ready for 2 minutes,” Tanger said with fake exasperation.

“Oh, a whole two minutes? How dare us to make you wait, please don’t have us flogged your majesty.” Sidney retorted.

“It’s about time you realized who is truly the queen in this outfit,” Tanger said grinning. 

“Guys, I’m ready if you all are!” They all heard Sidney’s mom yell.

Well, here we go, Sidney thought, he felt in that moment he was walking into the lion's den.   
Just what had he gotten himself into?

“I think I am officially going to be sick,” Sidney said with a slight moan.

“Take slow deep breaths, if you pass out while we’re over there, I once again tell you I will laugh my ass off,” Tanger said.

“Man, you are just a ball of warm fuzzies aren’t you?” Sidney said glaring at Tanger.

“I’m just saying,” Tanger laughed.

“Okay lets, come on, pull yourself together man, he’s just a guy, okay, nothing more and nothing less,” Tanger stated with utter confidence.

The only thing was Sidney didn’t believe mystery guy was just a guy; no, he was more, much more, he just didn’t know what yet. As they began to descend the stairs a thought touched his mind, one that was not his own. “Good morning my Luna,” Sidney heard.

He stumbled a few steps on the stairs. Tanger reached out to steady him. “Are you okay?” he whispered.

“I just heard the voice again,” Sidney said shakily.

“What did it say?” Flower asked.

“Good morning my loona,” Sidney answered. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“I can’t believe I thought it was a good idea to go over there,” Sidney thought.

Sidney’s mom was standing at the bottom of the stairs watching them closely. He had that look that Sidney knew all too well; his mom knew something was up. He could feel his mom’s emotions very strongly; she was very, very concerned. 

“Are you guys coming?” his mom asked.

“Lead the way Ms. Crosby,” Tanger said.

As they stepped out of the house and onto the walkway, the sun shone brightly down on them, and at 10:00 a.m. it was already blistering hot. 

Although the grass in some of the lawns was still healthy and green, Sidney’s and his mom’s lawn was brown and dead. Of course, that could be because his mom mowed it way too short last time in hopes she could go longer than a week between mowing. She inadvertently killed the grass. Oh, well, Sidney thought, it’s not like they were going out for prettiest lawn competition. Goodness knows both him and his mother would rather pull their toenails out than work in the yard in the ridiculous summer heat.

As they crossed the street Sidney saw the curtains in the right, second story window part. Briefly, he saw the handsome face looking back at him. When he looked away to get the attention of Flower and Tanger and he looked back to point him out but the curtains had already closed. 

“He was standing in the window guys, I promise I did not imagine it,” Sidney said sounding a little desperate.

“We believe you, Sid, stop doubting that,” Flower said with conviction.

He was right Sidney thought. They were his best friends and he knew they would stick by him no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments would be super appreciated!! I'm on break right now so I am trying to post as much as I can.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!! This is the start to what will hopefully be my first chaperted work   
> Kudos and comments would be super appreciated!!


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